"Theforesight the old woman possessed may well be why she lived alone, far from thevillage," Drogo mused aloud. "Such a thing can breed hate and fear. Iwonder what the girl was to her?"
"Areyou worried that she could bring you trouble when you take her with you?"
"Andwho said that I planned to take the girl, Serle?"
"Theway you stare at her tells me. I began to fear that you would grab the girl erethe old woman had finished dying."
Drogocolored faintly. Serle's words crudely but accurately described what he felt.All that held him back was a distaste for taking an unwilling female. He hadseen the tragic results of a man's brutal lust and, despite how badly he achedfor the girl, he would wait. When she suddenly appeared in the doorway of thecottage holding the shroud-wrapped body of the old woman, he ruefully admittedto himself that such patience would be hard to grasp.
Serlewalked over to the girl and held out his arms. "Let me carry the oldwoman, child. The ground is rough and you will not wish to drop her. So, too,can I place her more gently in her final bed." Not sure she understoodhim, Serle struggled to embue his rough voice with the meaning of his words andthe kindness he intended.
Aftera brief moment of hesitation, Eada nodded and let him take Edith's body. Shefollowed him as he strode to the readied grave. When Eada saw the plaque, shesighed. Edith had not lied. The woman had indeed known that her time was at anend. When one of the men began to murmur a prayer, Eada was grateful but wishedthat her dear friend could have had a sanctified priest and been laid to restin holy ground. The woman had lived alone and now had to be buried alone. Itseemed grossly unfair to Eada.
TheNormans left her alone after the burial although she knew she was being closelywatched. Eada busied herself piling rocks on the grave to protect the body fromscavengers as well as more clearly mark the gravesite. She was only partlyaware of the increasing noises around her.
Whenshe finally turned from Edith's grave and looked toward the Normans, shescowled. Three of the men had stripped to their shirts and were chasing Edith'sanimals. The man she had attacked, the one the others called Drogo, stood by,still fully armed. He was watching her, however, and not being much of a guard.Finally, disgusted with the knights' inept attempts to collect up Edith's farmanimals, Eada strode over to them. Standing by the pen, she put her hands onher hips and wondered where these men had sprung from. They knew nothing aboutthe very animals who kept their tables weighted with food.
"Didyou just pop out of the ground, oafs, that you know so little about thecreatures that feed you?" she snapped in English as she strode into themiddle of the men and pushed them aside. "Never have I seen such nonsense.You may be able to ply your swords with some skill, but I pray you have broughtyour servants with you. You will surely starve if it is left to fools such asyourselves to provide food."
"Doyou think she means to try and stop us from gathering this food, Drogo?"Tancred asked as he backed away from the angry young woman.
"Ithink she insults you," Drogo replied.
"Thatmuch I knew, but does she do so because we do such a poor job or because shetries to keep us from taking anything?"
Afterwatching the slender woman for a moment, Drogo answered, "Because you dosuch a poor job of it. Come, arm yourselves," he ordered the men. "Ihave seen no one, but that does not mean it is safe here."
"Iwill collect that pony and cart I saw," Unwin said as he hurriedlyredonned his armor with Serle's help.
Eadaleashed and caged the last of Edith's stock and thought sadly that the womanwould have done very well at the market this year. She quickly gathered all theeggs and carefully set them in the cart the youngest of the men had brought tothe front of the cottage. It took a moment to subdue a surge of anger over howquickly Edith's possessions were being taken by the men who had caused herdeath, but she steadied herself and reentered the cottage. She had to get thegift Edith had bequeathed to her.
"Drogo?"Serle called tentatively as they put the animals in the cart or tied them upbehind it. "That girl is no peasant."
"Andwhat makes you say so?" Drogo asked.
"Sheunderstands what we say, I think, or very nearly so. That means that she speaksFrench. No poor girl would. And look closely at her gown. Torn and dirty thoughit is, no pauper would own such a gown. Perhaps you should think longer on whatyou plan to do."
Drogodid, but only for a moment, and then he shrugged. "She is Saxon, theenemy."
"Herfamily might ride with William."
"Thenwhy is she out here at this poor cottage? I am taking her with me, Serle. Ifear reason will not stop me."
AlthoughDrogo smiled at Serle's curses, he ignored them and strode into the cottageafter the girl. He had to bend to get through the low doorway, and it took amoment for his eyes to adjust to the dimness inside the cottage. The girl kneltby a chest, holding a smaller one in her arms, and the look she sent his waywas not a welcoming one. He thought of the old woman they had just buried andsuddenly feared that he might never be able to overcome the girl's anger.
Four
Thehuge chest Edith stored her few possessions in creaked loudly as Eada openedit. A small, ornately carved chest sat atop the old clothing and blanketsinside. For a moment Eada was afraid, but she harshly scolded herself for herown foolishness. Despite that, she still shuddered as she picked up the small chest.She was almost glad when the Norman entered the cottage, distracting her, butshe still glared at him. It was easy to blame him for all the turmoil shesuffered.
Eadarealized that she had already ceased to think of the large man as Old Edith'smurderer. She knew in her heart that it had been just a horrible, tragicaccident, but she still resented him. From the moment he and the rest of theNormans had set foot upon English soil, her life had been drastically changed.Her family was gone; her father was quite possibly doomed, and now Old Edithwas dead.
Evenworse than all of that, Eada decided crossly, was the fact that the mandisturbed her. She could not stop herself from wondering what he looked likebeneath his armor. Her anger and grief had prevented her from really looking athim during the brief time she had attacked him and he had lost his helmet. Shefound that she was intensely curious to see if he were as handsome as Old Edithhad said he would be.
Shequickly cursed herself for being a fool. It did not matter if he were handsome.He could be as ugly as a toad. The man would take her whether she wanted him ornot. He was a Norman, one of a large army that had landed in England with everyintention of conquering it. If he chose to conquer her, too; there was not verymuch she could do about it. Eada decided she would simply not make it too easyfor him. If it really were her destiny to belong to this tall Norman, then sobe it; but she would ensure that he had to work hard for his prize.
"Well?What are you standing there for, you great fool?" she snapped.
Drogodecided that her language added a new sharpness to an insult; and although hedid not understand her, he knew she was insulting him. If the tone of her voicehad not told him so, the look on her pretty face would have. He crossed hisarms over his chest and looked down at her, wondering idly why his desireshould be so strongly roused by such a foul-tempered little female. Drogo thenfound himself wondering what he would feel if she smiled at him.
